WITH tears and tributes, the children of World Trade Centre victims yesterday remembered their loved ones at a sombre ceremony to mark the second anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

WITH tears and tributes, the children of World Trade Centre victims yesterday remembered their loved ones at a sombre ceremony to mark the second anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

About 200 youngsters stood at the site of the former twin towers to read the names of all 2,792 people killed in the Al- Qaeda strikes.

Bagpipers opened the memorial with a stirring rendition of Amazing Grace as firefighters unfurled a torn American flag that was raised above the rubble of Ground Zero in the days following the atrocity.

Then, in pairs, the children stepped up to the podium. Many wept and struggled to stop their voices from cracking with emotion as they went slowly through the list of victims.

Accompanied by mournful flute and violin solos, most added their own personal messages of grief. "I love you daddy, I miss you a lot," said 12-year-old Christina Maria Aceto after reading the name of her father, Richard Anthony Aceto.

The daughter of New York tax officer Robert Miller broke down as she said, "I love you, I miss you and you will always be in my heart."

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said children had been chosen to lead the service because "it is in them that the spirit of our city lives on".

As the names were read, family members streamed to the bottom the seven-storey pit at Ground Zero to pray, reflect and lay wreathes.

The bodies of almost half of those killed in the attack were never recovered, so for many relatives the site is a grave.

With construction due to start on a new tower next year, this is expected to be the last chance families will have to pay their respects at the base of Ground Zero.

A hush fell across the site at 8.46am as a minute's silence marked the moment the first hijacked jet smashed into the World Trade Centre.

Three more periods of silence were held to mark the second plane hitting and the two towers collapsing.

About 100 British police officers also attended the commemorations in full uniform to show their solidarity with the New York officers killed in the attack.

Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who led the city in the days after September 11, evoked Winston Churchill in his address to mourners. The British wartime leader had been proved right when he said people who believed in freedom would always prevail, Giuliani said.